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Brookside (Bury Meadows)

Brookside (Bury Meadows)

27.01.2025

Don’t forget that the PROSPECTS climate action workshop takes place on Thursday 30th Jan, 7-9pm, at Stanhill Methodist Church, Nab Lane, Oswaldtwistle, BB5 4PT.

There’ll be lots of opportunities for discussion about common climate change myths,  top tips for having climate conversations, and discussing the very best ways that we can ALL take action.

To book a free place, click here: Climate Change Event

Please note: no parking is permitted on Nab Lane. Please consider taking public transport, or parking on the Stanhill Road if you do need to bring a car.

If you have any questions about the event, including any additional access requirements, please email Alice at PROSPECTS to discuss.

23.01.2025

Quick reminder about the PROSPECTS climate action workshop! All details below – everyone welcome! 👇🌳🌼🍃🍄

20.01.2025

Concerned about climate change?

Join the PROSPECTS Foundation for a free, interactive, workshop all about climate action. They will be busting common climate change myths, giving out top tips for having climate conversations, and discussing the very best ways that we can ALL take action.

The workshop will take place on Thursday 30th Jan, 7-9pm, at Stanhill Methodist Church, Nab Lane, Oswaldtwistle, BB5 4PT.

To book a free place, click here: Climate Change Event

Please note: no parking is permitted on Nab Lane. Please consider taking public transport, or parking on the Stanhill Road if you do need to bring a car.

If you have any questions about the event, including any additional access requirements, please email Alice at PROSPECTS to discuss.

05.12.2024

The latest Brookside Newsletter is now available! It’s a great way to find out what’s been happening on site, and what to expect in the coming months too.

Click to read here.

And if you’d like to sign up to future versions you can do that here.

28.11.2024

As part of the preparation of a nature conservation management plan for Bury Meadows/Brookside, the Lancashire Wildlife Trust asked the North West Fungus Group (https://northwestfungusgroup.com) to survey the fungi at the site. At the end of October, five members of the group visited the site and found 60 species including seven that are noteworthy. The list includes some common species that you may have heard of, or have seen for yourself but not known what they were called, such as:

  • Amethyst Deceiver – it’s the colour of amethyst, the crystal, i.e. purple,
  • Beech Woodwart – which looks like brown pea-sized drops of dried tar on dead Beech stems,
  • Birch Besom – the one that produces a tangled mass of twigs, like a witches broomhead, in live birch trees,
  • Candlesnuff Fungus – with a black stem and white fingers at the end like a burnt out matchhead,
  • Common Earthball – round specked brown balls on the ground that puff out clouds of brown spores,
  • King Alfred’s Cakes (also known as Cramp Balls) – the black balls on Ash stems and branches,
  • Fly Agaric – the ones with white spots on a red toadstool made famous by Alice in Wonderland and are associated with birch trees,
  • Honey Fungus – lots of tightly packed yellow-brown mushrooms growing out of the base of a tree,
  • Sycamore Tarspot – the black spots on Sycamore leaves in the autumn. The fungus is sensitive to Sulphur Dioxide pollution so the more spots there are the cleaner the air is!,
  • Turkeytail – a bracket fungus with lots of multi-coloured bands across the surface,
  • Velvet Shank – as the name suggests it has a velvet (i.e. purple) stem (the top is yellow brown), and
  • Yellow Brain – a yellow rubbery crinkled mass that resembles brain tissue!

Five of the seven noteworthy species have common/English names, i.e., Eyelash, Olive Conecap, Hothouse Conecap, Toothed Crust and Wrinkled Crust.

Some of the other fungi with common/English names include Flat Oysterling, Hare’sfoot Inkcap, Pleated Inkcap, Leopard Earthball, Purple Jellydisc, Rancid Bonnet and Yellowing Knight.

The group is planning on returning to Brookside in spring to see what else they can find – the fruiting bodies of many fungus only appear in the spring, so the list for the site should go well over 100.

The results of this, and the other ecological surveys being carried out at Brookside, will be taken into account by the Wildlife Trust in writing the management plan for the site, for example by leaving dead wood to rot down, minimising impaction; not using fertilisers or pesticides; controlling Himalayan Balsam which crowds out other such species upon which fungi depend;  increasing tree species diversity; and managing grassland with thick layers of dead grass that prevent fungi from fruiting etc.

Did you know that fungi are almost the only organisms that can digest the lignin in trees and, if it wasn’t for fungi, every tree that had ever lived and died on planet earth would still be there stacked up layer after layer on top of each other, unless they had been burnt or used to build something!

 

18.11.2024

There are some great events happening at Brookside this week, including helping the team set up a community tree nursery and festive wreath making.

There’s also an amazing opportunity to take part in a citizen science day where you can work alongside the Ribble Rivers Trust to test water quality on the site – full training provided!

All details on the posters below, and if you have any questions please contact: Alice Pooley

Week Calendar 1811

 

WATER QUALITY

09.10.2024

Just a reminder that you have until Friday to get involved and work with us to evaluate the development work that has been done on the Brookside Restoration Project. You will work alongside the team for the next 12 months.

All details are here 👇

Brookside Evaluation Brief

If you have any questions about this, please contact: Alice Pooley

03.10.2024

There’s an exciting opportunity for someone to get involved and work with us to evaluate the development work that has been done on the Brookside Restoration Project. You will work alongside the team for the next 12 months.

All details are here 👇

Brookside Evaluation Brief

If you have any questions about this, please contact: Alice Pooley

26.09.2024

Don’t forget there are still lots of great things happening on site at Brookside! Take a look at the poster below for details, and if you have any questions you can contact Alice Pooley

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05.09.2024

The latest Brookside Newsletter is out now!

Click here to read: Latest Newsletter

There’s a lot happening on site in over the next few months too. Take a look at the poster below for details 👇

May at Brookside 1

 

03.09.2024

There’s an exciting opportunity for a film maker to create short film for the Brookside Restoration Project!

All details are here 👇

Film Maker Brief Brookside

If you have any questions about this, please contact: Alice Pooley

27.08.2024

Last week the Brookside Restoration Officer, Alice Prospects, along with Hyndburn Borough Council and the project partners (Lancashire Wildlife Trust, Ribble Rivers Trust Stanhill Village Community Association, and us here at Proffitts) hosted a launch event for Brookside Restoration Project. We all had a great afternoon, and it was fantastic to see so many people, including Mike Booth, Mayor of Hyndburn, turn up to find out more about the plans for the site!

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29.07.2024

Looking for something lovely to do on Saturday, 3rd August? If you are, pop down to Brookside and join the Big Butterfly Count! All details below. Everyone welcome 🦋

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24.07.2024

Don’t forget, on Friday you can join the Ribble Rivers Trust on site for an electrofishing demonstration. All details below 👇

Hope to see you there!

Electrofishing

1707.2024

Just a reminder of the events taking place at Brookside over the coming weeks. Please note that the Guided Walk and Coffee Morning will now take place on Wednesday, 14th August 🌳

Updated Summer Events

15.07.2024

If you want to know more about this amazing site, then pop along for a guided walk tomorrow evening at 5.30pm!

If you’re interested, please email project officer Alice  for more details 🙂

10.11.2024

Don’t forget, you can join Alice and the team from River Ribbles Trust for an exciting invertebrate monitoring session tomorrow! See poster below for details 👇

08.07.2024

Lots of lovely Summer Events happening on site at Brookside! First event is this Thursday. See poster below for details or contact project officer Alice  for more details 🙂

Summer Events

 

21.06.2024

If you’d like to keep across everything happening on this project, you can now subscribe to the Brookside restoration quarterly newsletter for seasonal updates, site news, volunteer opportunities, and more! To register, click here: Brookside Newsletter

19.06.2024

Reminder that tomorrow is the very last chance to bash the Balsam that is taking over the Brookside site! Once the flowers and seed pods develop, disturbing the plants only aids their spread.

If you can spare a few hours to stand up for native wildlife, please do come and join for some or all of the day. Project officer Alice will be at the Kemp Delph entrance on Stanhill Road at 10.30 – what3words ///crowned.sits.paths

All other details can be found on the posters below, and if you’d like to know more about the project, please contact PROSPECTS project officer Alice 

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23.05.2024

Two dates for your diary…on Thursday 30th May, you an join the Spring Clean up happening on site between 10am and 3pm. And, on 31st May, there’s be a guided family walk taking place. The meet time for the family walk is 10.15am and it should last about 90 minutes. All details for both events on the posters below 👇. Hope to see you there!

Spring Cleanup 2

 

Spring Walk 1

22.05.2024

It’s been a fantastic few weeks at Brookside, with bat box making, tree guard collection, and a very successful heritage walk! Alice from PROSPECTS has also delivered two talks to the Oswaldtwistle Rotary Club, and attended “Eco Cluster” at a local primary school.  Thanks to everyone who came along. Look forward to seeing you again at future events!

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15.05.2024

Just a reminder of TWO events happening this week…

The first is the Spring Clean Up session taking place on site on Friday 17th May, and the second is the Heritage Walk and Coffee Morning event that will be taking place on Saturday 18th May. All details can be found on the posters below, and if you’d like to take part, please contact PROSPECTS project officer Alice 

 

Spring Cleanup at Brookside 1

Heritage Walk

 

08.05.2024

May is going to be a busy month on site! If you’d like to get involved with any of the activities mentioned on the poster below then please contact PROSPECTS project officer Alice or pop into the office!

May 2024 Events

07.05.2024

Last week, Alice from PROSPECTS ran a dead hedging day. The team repaired damaged fencing using materials harvested from the site, while creating a valuable habitat for wildlife too – it’s a win-win!

The day was a huge success and the fence looks wonderful. Well done to everyone helped out 👏

Dead Hedge 3 May2024

01.05.2024

It’s been a little while since we’ve updated you, but the team have continued to plan and work on project, and they have some great news to share…

The National Lottery Community Fund have provided the funding needed for the team to recruit a dedicated Brookside Development Officer, based at The PROSPECTS Foundation, for the next 18 months. We’re thrilled to have Alice Pooley  on board and, over the next year and a half, she is going to be gathering information and pulling together a fantastic masterplan for the site.

If you’d like to know more about the project, or if you’d like to find out about future volunteering opportunities, then Alice is the person to contact. You can email her at [email protected]

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21.08.2023

On Wednesday 30th August, John Haddon from Lancashire Wildlife Trust will be leading some training on Ash dieback, a fungal disease which is having a huge impact at Brookside, where almost 50% of the woodland is composed of ash which was originally planted as a timber crop. All details of the venue and timings for the day are on the flyer below, and anyone over 16 is welcome.

The morning session will provide an overview of the effects of ash dieback and the main signs to look for in assessing the progression of the disease. You will also have the opportunity to learn more about how affected trees can be managed, both for safety and as an important part of the habitat.

In the afternoon we will head out on site where you will be able to apply your knowledge and start to complete some condition assessments of affected trees. We are particularly keen to identify those trees which have been less badly affected by ash dieback and to monitor any future signs of decline.

The training day will be followed by further sessions where volunteers can use their skills to carry out condition assessments in different areas of the site so that we can build up a fuller picture of the impact of Ash dieback.

If you would like to take part in this training and can commit to completing any further assessments over coming weeks/months, please email [email protected] .

Ash dieback training August 2023

07.08.2023

Despite the weather, we still had a great time at Stanhill Fete on Saturday! We met lots of people, and discussed loads of ideas for transforming the Brookside site into somewhere local people can enjoy nature and take part in outdoor activities. It’s always exciting to chat to people about our ambitions for achieving radical climate action changes by improving biodiversity, habitat recovery, and carbon capture throughout the space.

Don’t forget… you can still take a look at the plans for the site and share your thoughts here: Brookside Survey

The results of the survey will help determine what further development work is needed, and show us which improvements residents and visitors think should be tackled first.

Thanks again to everyone who came to see us on Saturday!

Stanhill Fete 1 Stanhill Fete 2

01.08.2023

This Saturday, 5th August, our team will be at Stanhill Fete.

We’ll be there to enjoy the music, games, face painting, BBQ and ice creams – but we’ll also be talking with local people about the the Brookside project too. If you’d like to find out more about how we’d like to improve the site, or share your ideas, then pop along and see us.

The fete takes place between 1pm and 5pm at The Stanhill Pub & Kitchen, Stanhill Rd, Oswaldtwistle, Accrington, BB5 4PS. Hope to see you there 🙂

Stanhill Fete

18.06.2023

We had a brilliant day at Eco Fest yesterday – great to meet so many people who know about the project, and lots of people who wanted to find out more too.

The information boards are now on display in the Market Hall, and we’ll be out and about meeting people at a couple of other events over the summer. Watch this space for dates and details!

EcoFest

 

EcoFest2

15.06.2023

If you’d like to find out more about the project, then head down to EcoFest in Accrington on Saturday, 17th June! You can chat to us, Hyndburn council, and Prospects about where we’re up to and our wider ambitions for the site too.

It’s going to be an amazing day, with loads of fun, environmentally friendly, activities on for all the family. Look forward to seeing you there 🙂

EcoFest 26.5x17 Newspaper Ad

16.05.2023

Hyndburn Borough Council, Stanhill Village Community Association and the local environment charity PROSPECTS Foundation are working together on a plan that could transform the Brookside site into somewhere local people can enjoy nature and more outdoor activities. The ambitious project would also aim to achieve radical climate action changes by improving biodiversity, habitat recovery and carbon capture throughout the space.

The working group has already identified some key improvements that could do this but, before any further plans are considered, we would like to get your feedback and see if there is anything else that you think should be included. You can do this by completing this very short survey: Brookside Survey

The results of the survey will help determine what further development work needs to be done by the group, held decide which improvements are tackled first, and help the team put the other suggestions in priority order. This is a long term project, and not all of the work can take place at once. Changes will be made over several years, and will be dependant upon successful fundraising.

Thanks you for taking the time to answer these very quick questions and share your ideas!

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09.02.2023

Tree works to tackle ash dieback will be taking place across the Bury Meadows site in February / March. Some of the trees will need to be removed, and others will be monitored. Sections of footpath will be closed on working days, so please do look out for signs as you walk the site.

More details are on the poster below, and if you have any questions please do contact Sara Parsons at Hyndburn Borough Council (details below)

Notice Bury Meadows ash dieback JPG

12.01.2023

We’re still exploring the Bury Meadows site in Stanhill Village, Oswaldtwistle, and it gets more and more interesting with every visit. One of the latest finds from Anne Hourican at Hyndburn Borough Council is this old, gnarly, tree with an usual spreading crown (field elm, we think, but it may be a type of hybrid) along an old field boundary. There are some old Hawthorns there as well, and a very old stone gate post along the same boundary – amazing heritage features. We’ll have more information for you about the project throughout 2023, so do check back for updates.

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24.10.2022

We’re delighted to be working with Hyndburn Borough Council and the Stanhill Village Community Association on plans to develop the newly acquired Bury Meadows site in Stanhill Village, Oswaldtwistle, Accrington.

The site, totalling 87 acres (35 hectares), has a wonderful local history, and a very rich habitat mosaic already and there’s huge potential for wider public benefit. Early ideas include aiming to secure Local Nature Reserve status, making woodland improvements, introducing spaces for outdoor activities and creating a Climate Action initiative.

There’s already a lot of public support for the changes, and it’s going to be fantastic being part of such an exciting and ambitious project.

We’ll keep you updated about any community meetings, discussions, ideas and masterplans here – so do keep checking back for details, or follow us on Twitter @Proffittscic.

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